What Happens to Unwanted Dogs When They’re Not Adopted

The Obama 2012 campaign is panting to give first dog Bo a starring part in its re-election bid, prominently featuring the handsome Portuguese water dog in official campaign advertisements and fundraising efforts in an effort to court the canine-loving contingent. One of those efforts is “Bark for Obama,” a cute collection of designer dog apparel; consulting on the collection was none other than Obama’s most fashionable fundraiser, Vogue’s Anna Wintour (who is known more for her love of fur coats than live animals, but whatever).

It’s all a sad reminder of how the president missed a golden opportunity to help a tragically under-represented American demographic. In 2009, after winning many dog lovers’ hearts by hinting at the possibility that his family would adopt a shelter mutt, the president instead accepted the gift of a purebred pup from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Had he made good on his promise to scoop an underdog from one of the country’s many overburdened animal shelters, the gesture would have gone a long way toward reversing the nation’s crushing homeless-dog crisis. The all-American mutt would’ve gained overnight celebrity as a status hound. But instead of casting their vote for the all-American mutt, copycats bought … Portuguese water dog puppies.

Now, a new documentary reveals, in graphic detail, just what that missed opportunity has cost the dogs of America. It’s called One Nation Under Dog, and it airs tonight at 9 p.m. on HBO, as the opening film of the annual HBO Summer Documentary Series.

There’s no question that we Americans love our dogs. There are 78.2 million owned dogs in the United States, and statistics from the American Pet Products Manufacturing Assocation show that we spend some $50 billion per year on their care, feeding, and other amenities. If we love dogs so much, then how come so mind-bogglingly many of them — a conservative estimate puts the number at about 4 million — are killed at our country’s animal shelters every year? That’s the hard-nosed question posed by One Nation Under Dog.

Subtitled “Stories of Fear, Loss & Betrayal,” it presents, in anthology format, stories of individual dogs and people that will haunt you. One Nation Under Dog is rated TV-MA (for mature audiences) because, among other things, it reveals in graphic detail what happens to unwanted dogs at animal shelters when they’re not adopted.

“Euthanasia” is a euphemism. In many states, dogs are not destroyed by lethal injection, the method regarded as most humane. That’s too expensive. Instead, they are killed in gas chambers, which accommodate several animals at one time. After one group of animals is piled in and killed, the next group is loaded on top of the just-exterminated corpses. This film boldly shows the process, letting viewers see the “before,” hear the screams and cries of the “during,” then see the “after.” As a longtime dog rescuer myself, I’ve been aware of this sad phenomenon for years. Still, I can’t get that scene out of my mind. (Gassing, by the way, isn’t cheap – it costs an obscene amount of of taxpayer dollars to destroy so many dogs, then arrange to haul away and dispose of the bodies.)

Another unpleasant reality of America’s love of dogs involves the appalling conditions at puppy mills, the high-volume breeding facilities that churn out those cute bundles of fluff sold for top dollar at pet stores. This film follows a group of rescuers as they liberate severely exploited and neglected animals kept in filthy outdoor cages, lying in their own excrement, sleeping with the corpses of dead dogs.

“There was some trepidation” about including the gas chamber sequence, admits producer Ellen Goosenberg Kent:

But I have to give credit to [executive producer] Sheila Nevins of HBO, who felt strongly that we should not euphemize euthanasia — if this is happening, and if only 19 states banned gas chambers, then this should be part of the film. It pulls back the curtain on euthanasia. Are we talking about the mercy killing of sick dogs? No. The fact that there are gas chambers in America was a complete shock to me, and it should shock everybody.

Interestingly, after filming the gassing sequence in Alabama, in the intervening months the state banned the practice, thanks to the tireless efforts of a group called the Alabama Voters for Responsible Animal Legislation.

At a recent advance screening of One Nation Under Dog, one of the rescuers told Goosenberg Kent that, seeing the gassing sequence, “her husband finally understood why she couldn’t leave a shelter without a car full of dogs.”

The film offers a few glimmers of hope. One takes the form of professional dog trainer John Gagnon, who volunteers with the rescue group Paws New England, pulling dogs from high-kill shelters in the South and transporting them northward to improve their chance at adoption. Watching Gagnon work with a highly stressed shelter dog – then witnessing layers of anxiety dissolve to reveal the highly adoptable, sweet dog beneath — is inspiring. Gagnon has rescued about a thousand dogs, and believes the homeless dog crisis to be “something Republicans and Democrats can both agree on. We are truly a nation of dog lovers in spite of what we allow to happen to them, and we don’t want to see this suffering,” he adds. “This is definitely an issue that, as a nation, we can all get behind. It’s important not only ethically and morally, but financially — we’re wasting a fortune of money, sitting back and watching this problem cycle through year after year.”
As difficult as this film is to watch, watching is well worth the effort. Viewers will finally understand that there are very simple but impactful things we can all do to help prevent the tragic waste that’s taking place every day at animal shelters across the country. For one, we can put puppy mills out of business by bypassing the pet stores. Instead of purchasing a pet-store pup, we can adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue organization. Petfinder is the easiest, fastest way to locate the new best friend that’s perfect for you.

This is the right, American thing to do. Just ask PJ Media’s Washington D.C. editor Bridget Johnson, whose beloved “Puppacita” is a pound rescue. Any size or type of dog is available for the adopting, from purebred to mutt. Shelter-dog adoption is cost-effective at the point of sale — in answer to “how much is that doggy in the window,” adoption fees are a fraction of pet-store price tags — and adopting saves money for the community by springing a dog from puppy prison. That’s a win-win if there ever was one.

Spaying and neutering dogs is another easy step all Americans can take to save its canine citizens. It’s high time to cut down on the dog overpopulation that meets its sad end in the cruel, costly gas chamber. Just one unaltered female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in only six years. A simple spay/neuter procedure prevents unwanted births.

Finally, voters can take an active interest in where their political representatives stand on animal issues such as euthanasia and puppy mills. Turning America into a no-kill nation is not a red or blue issue; it’s bi-paw-tisan, and it’s ready for political prime time.

All anyone has to do is adopt just one dog. Just one, OK? There’s a well-known saying among us dog rescuers and adopters: “Let each adopt one, until there are none.” Here’s another: “Adopting one dog won’t change the world, but surely the world will change for that one dog.”

The documentary does homeless dogs a great service by debunking the persistent myth that shelter animals are somehow defective. “People tend to think that when you get a rescue dog, you’re inheriting someone else’s problem, and that misconception has kept people from adopting,” Goosenberg Kent says. “I’m glad to be able to show how wrong that is. The real reason dogs get relinquished is people lose their job or move — it’s not because the dog is bad or misbehaving or sick. The dogs are victims of a change of circumstance. Most of the dogs in shelters are spectacular pets. Somebody was sad to give them up, but they’re here for, available to you, and 25 percent of them are purebreds. You can get virtually any dog you want at a shelter just by doing a little research online.” Resources such as Petfinder are most shelter animals’ only hope, she adds: “When they’re posted online, you can see how amazing they are, and how beautiful.”

If only the beautiful, fashionable people could be moved to see homeless dogs as a natural resource worth preserving, and a demographic worth standing up for.

Journalist and author Julia Szabo wrote the Pets column for the Sunday New York Post, for 11 years and now pens the "Living With Dogs" column for Dogster.com. Follow her on Twitter @PetReporter1. Photo credit: Daniel Reichert

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1.
DRayRaven

Sadly, people get more outraged by puppy mills and films like this than the plight of human children who get abused, neglected, and killed.

Trust me, I know. I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – a big puppy mill activist area where people put up signs in their front yards and protest against puppy mills but won’t lift a finger to help a child in a shelter.

People’s priorites are effed up. I’m pretty sure fewer people would object to Michael Vick playing in the NFL if he had abused kids instead of dogs.

No, I don’t think dogs should be abused…but doing something about it is pretty damn far down my priority list.

DRay, agreed, children in “shelters” are a big problem but they don’t get gassed just because there are too many of them.

Unwanted dogs and cats are a big problem here and abroad but can be brought under control. Simple things like mentioned, spay and neuter, adopt from shelters ect. One thing the article doesn’t mention is the big three supposed animal rescue organizations. By that I mean PeTA, ASPCA and the HSUS. PeTA alone kills around 90+% of the animals they “rescue. ASPCA is around 75% HSUS isn’t much better. Not only do they euthanize that many, they fight against local laws to set up no-kill shelters and also refuse to work with other no-kill rescue groups and shelters. They often label groups or individuals that try to save these animals as hoarders. One such animal sanctuary is the Caboodle Ranch here in Florida. It is a 30 acre wooded tract of land that the owner had set aside as a forever home for unwanted cats. He had built a small town just for them with heated and cooled buildings shaped like stores and businesses. He kept the property clean and had plenty of water stations set out for them. He kept dry food bowls filled and they got a wet food meal daily. He was working with a local vet to bring all his cats up on their shots and to have them fixed and microchipped. PeTA sent in a spy, undercover posing as a volunteer helper who spent six months at the ranch filming the worst possible pictures they could then took the video to the local sheriff and pressed charges. Even though the sheriff had never been to the ranch and had favorable reports from his Animal control deputies still contracted with ASPCA to raid and confiscate all of the Caboodle cats. They are still waiting for the judges decision on whether or not the cats will be returned. ASPCA has said they will adopt out as many of the cats as they can if they get custody but many will be considered feral, sick, or not adoptable for whatever reason. Those will be euthanized.

Again the TNR program though started by well intentioned people has only exasperated the problem of people getting pets and getting rid of them when they are no longer willing or able to take care of them. An easy solution is to drop them off at a TNR facility which are usually open ground areas where the introduced predator (cats) play havoc with the native wildlife. Cats do not stop killing even when well fed and often these TNR facilities crop up in urban and suburban areas where residents have to deal with unwanted animals on their property, marking territory, killing birds and other critters, defecating in gardens, climbing on vehicles, and preventing neighbors from enjoying their private property. If the problem is to be solved it must be done on the state level to stop puppy and kitten mills, liscense those who do not get their pets neutered, larger fees for unneutered pets, pets restrained to the owners property, and no live animals in pet stores. This is the only way the problem will be solved and we will not have to witness the heartbreak that cycles through the news every decade or so reminding us that again the years have gone by and we have done nothing.

I’m not a dog owner at present; my business has me traveling too much to do a pup justice. But when I have owned a dog, and when I will again, it won’t be just a pet; it will be a working gun dog, bred from a proven strain of working gun dogs.

To get a shelter dog that has any hope of making a good gun dog would involve nothing more than wild luck. I’d rather not adopt a dog that, given the odds, is going to be useless for the primary activity I want to share with a dog. So I’ll spend a couple grand and get a dog from a reputable gun dog kennel.

People looking for pets and nothing more, I agree, a shelter puppy is a good idea – although lots of grown dogs are in there because they have behavioral problems that may be unresolvable. I have friends that have learned this the hard way.

No argument. However, I was talking about neither puppy mills nor casually breeding, un-neutered dogs; I was talking about scrupulously bred, highly valuable gun dogs. The better kennels have years-long waiting lists for people willing to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for these animals.

SPAY AND NEUTER! If pet owners would spay and neuter their animals, this problem could be fixed in a couple of years. How many times have I heard pet owners excuses? There are low cost clinics in almost every community. If you cannot find one, ask your vet.

No matter how many people spay/neuter, shelters will have demand for dogs. Then they go out of the country to harvest dogs – from Mexico, South America, Puerto Rico, overseas. Many of these dogs don’t even have the basic health care and bring unknown diseases into this country. There are enough dogs in the US – and many rescue organizations work to move them from one part of the country to another to help with the overcrowding in some areas and the needs in others.

I have an excellent idea. I think we should spay and neuter every dog and cat, gerbil, hamster, gold fish, turtle, pot bellied pig and any other animal designated as “domestic” in the US, Canada and Mexico. Every bleeding one. Of course in ten or 15 years there will be no “pets”. Not puppies or kitties for real, just youtube videos.

One of the many problems with those who are “crusaders” for causes is that they don’t think out their plans to the inevitable conclusion. Like the PETA protestors at the American Kennel Club dog show, they are beating up the very people committed to responsible pet ownership. Spay and neuter all animals in pounds, and of course pretty soon only the elites will have “pets” but we rabble can’t afford them anyway, so it’s all good.

Unless you are a vegetarian you support a system of slaughterhouses that kills millions of innocent cows and pigs every year (and guts them and cuts thier bodies up into pieces) so that you can consume their flesh. From that perspective how can you be so indignant about the practice of killing dogs and cats because they have no one to care for them? Do you think the slaughterhouse uses lethal injection on each animal?

And if you are a vegetarian you support a system of agriculture that kills hundreds of thousands to millions of animals every year to deliver fruits and vegetables to your plate. Some are killed purposely and some accidentally, but the toll is still there.

The difference is they are animals raised as food. Dogs are not (unless you are Obama then Pit Bulls are “delicious.”

The comments about kids in shelters, the problem is that the stupid people that had those kids DID have a choice not to (use birth control) but didn’t. Will thoes kids get educated to not make more like them, homeless and unwanted? Or will they knowingly create more burdens on society to get more benefit payments from welfare?

With dogs, they aren’t aware of the concept of population overcrowding related to their instinct to breed. Stupid people (again) breed unwanted litters of dogs that in all cases highly desired.

Do your homework. Many breeds may not be suitable to your lifestyle. Some dogs end up in shelters because people fell in love with a dog hey saw on a TV show or in a movie and bought one without bothering to learn more about the breed. Often times the movie dog misrepresents or only tells a small part of the story of a given breed. These morons then see ordinary behavior for the breed as a behavior problem because their dog doesn’t act like the highly trained one they saw in a fictionalized entertainment.

High energy Dalmatians as a rule are not good pets for a family with small children because they are hard to train and they nip. Shelters were flooded with them the year after the 101 Dalmatian movie. Couch potato Eddie on Fraizer was not a typical vocal high energy Jack Russell. Mine seems to have been beaten for barking as it took her almost a year to find her voice again after I took her home from the local shelter. Akita lovers were actually pretty happy that 2010′s Hachi: A Dog’s Tale didn’t do well at the box office. While your average Akita is indeed very loyal they are also very powerful, smart, independent minded 100 pound dogs that tends to act dominant towards other dogs and can be aggressive to small animals unless properly socialized.

“Do your homework. Many breeds may not be suitable to your lifestyle. Some dogs end up in shelters because people fell in love with a dog hey saw on a TV show or in a movie and bought one without bothering to learn more about the breed.”

Every “101 Dalmatians” re-boot leads to a spike in high-strung, sometimes deaf, Dalmatians dumped at shelters; animal shelters on the West Coast had a surplus of teacup Chihuahuas some years ago when people discovered after purchase that teacup chihuahuas were more than a fashion accessory to be carried in a purse.

Just to add to this part of the problem, many dogs end up in shelters because they are acquired, and then dumped, by people who have no business owning any breed of dog.

All of the dogs in my family are rescue dogs. I have two. My daughter (who is a vet tech) and her husband also have two.

Just got back from a beach vacation with the family and all dogs, and a cat that somehow got added in.

The best story from all that is my daughters dog, Julie. She was abandoned by the breeder because she had a defect (persistent right aortic arch which blocked her esosophagus fixed by the vet for no fee, and a heart defect). She was not expected to live to one year. She is four plus years and can swim laps around me and loves every minute of it. Sometimes I got the ball but she can beat me whenever she wanted.

Anyway all dogs had a great time at the beach . I always encourage people to think about adopting a dog.

Old saying from the Talmud “one who saves a life it is as if he saved an entire world”. Each of us cannot solve this problem but think about a dog ready to go that can fit in your family before deciding on some breed based on an Internet search. Sometimes one of the dogs has been right there when I needed them too.

We live in a “throw away society”. Just look at how many of our senior citizens are treated, left in nursing homes and often forgotten by family and friends. Not surprising millions of dogs and cats are destroyed every year. After all, they’re expendable too. Sad:(

Couldn’t read all of this. How many children are there in the foster system in this country and no one to adopt them? In fact the adoption rules here are so cumbersome and expensive it is cheaper to adopt a child out of China than these kids that are American citizens. God how our priorities are so screwed up. Even the Venetian Republic for all its reputation as a playground took care of its orphans and unwanted children better than we do. But we are worried about dogs.

I have a relative who ended up adopting a little girl from China because under our laws, she didn’t “qualify” (mainly because she isn’t married). She is however a teacher for “special children” and certainly qualified to raise a child. Our adoption laws just don’t make sense…

Mike -
It’s more complicated than what you say. With domestic adoption out of foster care there is a fear that child services will attempt to reunite the children with their biological parents. By going overseas parents can avoid the risk of their kids being taken away (usually something they’ve seen on a bad Lifetime movie) – although there are other issues, too going overseas. All of my kids are adopted domestically (as infants) but I’d be hard pressed to consider an adoption out of foster care.

We had a home foreclosed in our neighborhood, and they left behind all their pets – a dog and 3 cats. All the neighbors gathered around clucking our tongues about how TERRIBLE these people were. The former owner later showed up to feed the animals and told us he had called every pound and shelter in the area and noboday would take them. I believe him because I had to get rid of my cat after my mother fell over trying to feed it and dislocated her shoulder and had to press her “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” button. There is such a glut of unwanted animals here, we can’t even get the pound to pick them up and gas them as you describe here.

It wasn’t until about 2 days later that not one of us said anything nice to this poor man or expressed any concern about his 2 CHILDREN that are now homeless. But we all made calls and asked friends on Facebook to do something about the damn cats (somebody took the dog right away.) I’m pretty ashamed of myself for that.

But how we treat those animals – especially animals born and bred specifically for the purposes of being companions to human beings – speaks volumes about who we are as individuals and a society. Basic compassion has to come into play at some level.

Just because there are other, more serious problems in society that need to be addressed does not mean we should not address the plight of homeless dogs. We can close down puppy mills if people will stop buying from pet stores. We can acquire our dogs from rescues and shelters. And we can spay and neuter.

After years of acquiring pure bred puppies from show breeders, we now have our fourth and fifth rescues. Three of the five rescues have been pure breds. And yes, you should do your homework before you acquire a specific breed. But the sad fact is that there are plenty of dogs to go around.

How about an HBO special on the dozens of Americans killed by dogs every year, the 750,000 sent to ERs with dog bites, the millions maddened by incessant barking, the millions of cats and wild animals killed by them every year, the dog feces smeared all over everything in American cities? Americans’ “love affair” with these disgusting, expensive, destructive, useless parasites is one of the truly inexplicable pathologies of modern life.

I actually think ‘Shrewsbury’ has a good point. Dogs, though they are obviously great companions and aids for many, are nuisances to many; Not to deny the negligent owners in the equation.

I live in a city with a major university. And every year there is a ave of unwanted pets that flows though here. From dogs to cats, snakes, hamsters & so on. It’s appalling. And then there’s the “land mines” the students leave behind that landlords tend to do nothing about…

When you have kids that have gotten ringworm more than a few times from the park the pet owners like to “visit”, can’t open your windows because the pet owners and your apartment managers refuse to seriously address the fecal issues outside, have one child attacked by a pit bull while walking home from the school bus stop and have had to fend off a different pit from attacking yourself and your younger son because the owner knows “he’d never hurt you” and have done your share of volunteer work at your local shelter & seen the results of this “love affair” America is involved with, maybe you’d understand the point ‘Shrewsbury’ was making… as I understand it, at least.

Shrew chose her user name well!
There are many who have no one to love them; no one at all. But Doggie cares. Whem Miss or Mr Lonely gets home, Doggie greets her/him, barking, licking, deliriously happy that she/he is back again! Doggie companions Lonesome; foloows about the yard and house, wants to play, jumps and runs to show off. Doggie sleeps at the masters feet, ready to warn of an intruder, ready to defend the master. Most Doggies are far more loveable than are most Shrews. So be it.

Every dog we’ve ever owned was a HSUS rescue dog. We’ve adopted five over the years, all puppies, and have loved every one. Our latest is a very pretty retriever/spitz mix with a wonderful temperament; she will be missed very much when she’s gone.

Who cares about putting down dogs, cats and other animals, when there’s a massacre of 1.2MM aborted _CHILDREN_ every year? Human life is eminently more valuable than that of an animal. Let’s see HBO do a special on the baby genocide, especially girls, happening for PROFIT every day in America. Never going to happen, sadly, due to screwed up priorities.

I’m honestly surprised at the comments on this thread . . . I’ve never heard someone speak AGAINST saving shelter animals before. We can be concerned about shelter animals at risk for euthanasia, children in shelters and foster homes, AND unborn children threatened by abortion all at the same, because we care about helping innocent beings who cannot defend themselves, period.

Thank You Haruka for your comment. The sad fact is that when we treat animals abominably, it’s a slippery slope and before long, we treat our fellow humans abominably too, including innocent children, living and unborn. Caring for animals and treating them with compassion can only have positive ramifications for children and all human beings – it’s not an either/or issue.

Big difference between killing an animal for food, and killing an animal for pleasure (and by pleasure, I don’t mean the enjoyment of hunting, but for sadistic purposes). Children who start with torturing animals can and do move on to torturing/killing people.

The shelters are not doing what they do *to* torture. They are likely understaffed and grossly underfunded because, well, they are shelters. (Not saying it’s right they they are underfunded, just that many are because the “recipients” are animals & not voters.)

Carn – Killing animals for fun does lead to violence against people. Whether you want to argue that these people are pre-disposed to that sort of mental illness or that it’s an escalation effect similar to drug consumption, where the offender becomes desensitized and needs increasing levels of violence, it’s a generally accepted truth in the law enforcement that the things are connected.

I only brought this up to point out that yes, there can be a “slippery slope” for abusive behaviors towards animals turning into abusive/uncaring behaviors towards humans. I’ve seen it happen. (And yes, I do understand the difference between the realities of what shelters can/do provide and the “hard” abuse of people who take violent physical action against animals for pleasure.)

It all starts with a singular act… adopt, and then the care in training/discipline, the attention to the health and well-being; caring for “others’ needs” before your own, and teaching respect and seeing the aging process, and that you “do not discard” just because of age or infirmities.

A child, teen or an adult can learn so much from having the responsibility of a companion animal. That can translate directly into care for others of our own species.

All of my pets have been from the pound. My dog, adopted at a year old, was my best bud, but I never could get him past evidently being beat as a pup. He would cower in fear if I raised a hand or yelled NO at him for whatever. He have several behavior ticks that only could have come from that first year I didn’t have him. I trained him and took him everywhere with me until it was time to put him down.

It has been a year since and I’m ready for another dog, but I’m leaning towards a breeder because I want a pup that is treated right from the beginning.. loved and not hit, trained and rewarded. A dog from a breeder deserves a good life every bit as much as a pup thrown into a pound. A dog is a dog. Pound animals deserve a chance, but in too many incidences they’ve been so badly ignored or abused prior to the stress of the pound experience that it is tough to overcome what others have done.

This is again another article that does not address the issue except to urge the same old tactics that do not work: adopt and neuter. It is like having a national litter clean up day which allows the people who litter to continue their appalling habits. We can’t continue to clean up other people’s messes. Why not offer a concrete solution such as no more dog or kittens in pet stores. Allow the pet stores to be the go between for buyers and breeders but do not let the animals be bred before sold. Stiffen the charge for pets that are not neutered and keep a data base on those who dont’ neuter their pets. Anyone who does not neuter their pets has to get a breeders liscense and be subject to inspection and yearly liscense renewal. Until there are concrete laws to do something about this problem we will continue to watch these sort of shows periodically as these unwanted pets live and die in their cycle of misery and death.

Thanks Lynn … that’s why, in addition to adopting and spaying/neutering, I also asked readers to please boycott pet shops that sell dogs from puppy mills. Bringing economic pressure on these businesses is an effective way to stop the cruelty: Cut off the supply of irresponsibly overbred animals.

Thank you for reading my comment. I just don’t think asking people to do something responsible for the irresponsible works and this grave problem has to be taken care of on the legislative level of local and state governments. Larger fees for non-neutered pets, license as breeders for those who dont’ neuter their pets renewalbe each year, inspections, and pet stores that do not carrry living kittens and puppies but broker as middleman between customers and breeders is only a few possible solutions. If we don’t do something at the government level we will see programs like the HBO special over and over again. We must take action as this is beyond reasonable the pet and dump society we have beocme.

I honestly don’t get why people down south won’t spay/neuter. And up here, too, in the “inner city” I keep meeting people who are “breeding pit bulls.”

I there any limit to the moron count? There’s no such thing as bad publicity, and maybe, just maybe a good expose will make some of them think before they fail to spay/neuter.

I might add, having spent close to 8 years working in the 42 Precinct in the Bronx, that since a poor person in the Bronx, Black or Hispanic or just not a friend of the the mayor cannot get a carry permit, their only choice for self defense is a pit bull. No other breed is guaranteed to keep the bad guys at bay. Hence, gun prohibition for less well off people in NYC has guaranteed a plethora of pit bulls, which are often not spayed. Just an observation based on being there.

Say what? We people down here don’t need to be spayed or neutered thank you.

There are many TNR groups as well as rescues and shelters down here that routinely spay and neuter any animals that need it. It is not a “southern” problem, this is happening all over the United States.

What we are talking about is friendly, loving animals being euthanized merely because someone feels there are too many of them. I would suggest you check on the kill rate of your local NYCACC. The numbers they put down daily might surprise you even though many local rescue groups beg them to let them take the animals instead of killing them.

“their only choice for self defense is a pit bull. No other breed is guaranteed to keep the bad guys at bay.”
I’ve never heard a more moronic comment in my whole life. Just because it’s a “pit bull” does NOT guarantee it will protect you. ANY dog learns to defend a home where it is loved and wanted.
“Pit bulls” were bred originally for dog fighting. They had to be fierce enough to fight dogs, but NOT harm a human. They had to be DOCILE toward humans so they could be handled. Quite the opposite of your comment.
I own three dogs. One is an Australian Cattle Dog, one Staffordshire Terrier mix (pit bull), and one Doberman. Out of these three, the “pit bull” is the most sweetest gentlest one of them all. It would take someone attacking me to make her attack. But then, she would be the last of 3 to join the fight.

The narcissist in chief bought a black dog, and named it after himself – BO. Don’t expect him to think of anything but himself. The dog is lucky its not a meal, come to think of it, anyone compared pictures of BO over the last couple years to see if its the same dog?

Seriously though, I have 4 dogs adopted from shelters/rescues, also all black (shepherd mixes in this case). Black dogs have a higher death rate due to being less likely to be adopted (for a variety of unrelated reasons ranging from overheating faster to superstition).

My wife and I have been active in Afghan Hound rescue for many years, fostering or help move dogs from here to there, even keeping some in the process.

First, if you want a good dog, go to the rescue for your favored breed. You will see what you are getting, be supported and if all fails you can give it back. I have found that our rescue groups are much fussier on placement than social services is for kids.

As to euthanizing, well, often the dogs are decompressed, dying of hypoxia. It looks terrible as they go into convulsions. I was decompressed in Pensacola, as part of my training in Naval Air. If I had a choice, that would be the way I would chose to go.

Shelters are their own worst enemy. Have you ever tried to adopt from a shelter? It’s worse than trying to adopt a child. In fact I could adopt a CHILD easier than a dog from a shelter.
I went to my local shelter one day to adopt a dog. Mind you I have 20+ years of raising animals, GLOWING reviews from multiple vets. Not one animal has ever wanted under my care, but the shelter didn’t want to let me adopt a dog. Why you ask? Because I choose to keep the dog in the house instead of buying/building him a dog house.
Lets see, 5 fenced acres for him to run, check. Continuous waterer, check. Self feeder in home, check. Over sized home with one room designated all his own, check. Veterinarians letters stating dog couldn’t have a better home, check. Letters of recommendation from friends and family, check. Dog door installed, check. Toys, check.
They refused my adoption because I REFUSE to keep my dog outside without me.
Simply, I didn’t have a doghouse. I have a dog door for him,have a barn or out build he can go in, but no designated doghouse.

If you don’t like these animals being gassed, check on the rules at the shelter. It’s their own fault these animals are dying.

I also noticed most of you are proud you adopted from a shelter. You want to know how I got my animals?
One was a tiny black kitten found in the middle of a busy highway. He was smaller than my palm. One was a kitten someone was trying to kill because she was deformed. One was a puppy abandoned on a porch. The little baby refused to leave the porch even though the owners left her. One was a dog that was abandoned at a new home I bought. Same thing. Dog wouldn’t leave the home. One dog I found roaming the streets, and one cat I got from the paper.
And none can ask for a better home.

So I RESCUED FIVE (5) of my 6 pets. All you did was go down and pick one out. Now THAT is owning a RESCUED animal.

I was going to mention this, but you beat me to it. When we moved to the country I tried to adopt a dog.

ALL of the shelters I checked with are run by slobbering morons who think a dog is a person. Before they will “let” you have a dog – oh, excuse me – ADOPT a dog, they want to do home visits and interview every member of the family, including children – AWAY FROM THE PARENTS. And don’t forget, if they deign to permit you to care for one of their prized possessions, they maintain a lifetime “right” to drop in for unannounced inspections. They expect to be able to remove the dog at any time if they are not satisfied.

Of course, if you decide the dog is not a good match, you have no right to give it to someone else. It must go back to the shelter.

As long as this kind of insanity is the norm, shelters will remain overcrowded, and many animals will be gassed (or just tossed in a dumpster like PETA does) that should not have been.

All because these idiots – the kind that talk about being “pet parents” – don’t understand the difference between a DOG and a child.

So when you come to me for donations, I’ll reply, “Boo hoo. YOU people are the biggest part of the problem. Go fix your twisted brain, THEN come to me for money. Now get lost.”

I agree. We tried to adopt a dog from a shelter, but were denied because we wouldn’t adopt both siblings. Many of the people who run shelters are PETA types, but we’ve adopted two dogs from a shelter that is reasonable and we have a great time with them!

My husband has always bought high-end bird dogs. I have always gotten pound dogs. My current blue heeler mix outdoes his high-end dogs at flushing, retrieving, coming on call, plus she moves the cows, guards the house, welcomes the guests, and has triple the personality of the blue-bloods. Most people are blessed if they can say they had one remarkable dog in their lifetimes. In 50-some years I’m blessed to say I’ve had four remarkable dogs – not just my opinion – and they’ve all come from the pound.

We often discuss this, and he acknowledges the designer-dog impulse has diminished his enjoyment and productivity in his endeavors.

None of my pups had been abused. They were all healthy, eager, loving pets that responded well. So don’t hesitate to visit pounds and get to know some dogs.

What a bunch of hard hearted illegitimates! The selfishness and pettiness of hypersensitive hypocrites seems endemic.Y’all kill millions of innocent, unborn babies; y’all kill millions of helpless pets; y’all kill thousands as the victims of crime, by refusing to properly deal with the criminal killers.
Why is it ok to kill a baby but not okay to execute a murderer?

There have been an awful lot of off-topic comments on this thread. Why such judgementalism towards people who care about the plight of unwanted dogs and cats? If you’d rather adopt a child, go right ahead. Nobody’s stopping you.

HBO is merely putting out emotional manipulation for mass consumption by “Pet Parent” kooks and city people that think life is always clean and tidy and that animals are always wonderful and “just like little people”. No, you’re just kooky, is all that shows.

Remember that the first face transplant was done on a woman who’s face was eaten off her by her little snookums “rat with fangs” dog, while she was passed out drunk, but still alive. That’s a big lesson for those that equate animals with “little people”.

Shelter people are their own worst enemies these days. I will not get animals from any shelter. Their ‘no kill’ policies are what is putting pets into the streets. Their SPAY UNDT NEUTER UBER ALLES attitude is that of control freaks that brook no dissent. The weepy, gushing over pet animals not ones own is over the top and seems a bit separated from reality. I find them all to be a bit creepy and controlling.

Their demand that they, and only they, can deal with killing off unwanted animals is a big part of the problem as well. People just dump them somewhere, rather than putting them down themselves, because then they don’t get into trouble for doing what the shelters do every day. They have created the notion that someone putting down their own animals is somehow abnormal, unless you either hire a vet or dump it into a shelter to be gassed. Then they wonder why nobody uses the “services” of the shelter. Why go deal with a bunch of judgemental animal freaks looking at your underwear and passing judgement as to your fitness to have a pet, all under the color of authority they have aggregated to themselves by getting laws passed by emotional manipulation and appeal to authority, which, conveniently, just so happens to be their own?

I can’t let SGT Ted be the last comment on this serious issue and let him turn it into a grab your guns, ammo, supplies and head for the hills the government is commin to git us issue. People who work or volunteer at pounds see over and over again the pets cycled in and out of their facilities. They ask questions to make sure the adopter has the proper facilities for the animal and knows the responsiblity of caring for the animal. In other words they are doing their job. As far as requiring the adopter to have the animal spayed when it comes of age is insurance that they will not be seeing the pets offspring in their facility when the owner can’t afford, or doesn’t want to care for them. Blaming this problem on the facilities that take in unwanted pets is rediculous and just an excuse to again years that turn in decades of doing nothing.

Unfortunately Lynn studies show that Mr. SGT is correct in his assessment. Shelters have become revolving doors for animals. Studies show that 47% of all animals adopted will be returned to the shelter from which they came or to another shelter. These animals are returned not because of irresponsible owners but because the shelter was intent on placing the animal into any home whether it was suitable or not. The top three reasons for these returns are: 1. the animal has a health problem that is time consuming and expensive. 2. the animal bites the kids. 3. the animal is not house broken and does not seem able to learn. This means the shelters have not done their job of rehabilitating this animals or most importantly they have continued to select and place animals that should not be placed. More often than not these are feral animals that were never owned by anyone at any time. These animals take special training and knowledge regarding feral behavior to be placed. In fact these animals should not be placed as they have no empathy or former relationship with human beings. They can never be trusted like any wild animal that is taken from the wild as an adult. Many volunteers think such feral animals were just abused simply because these animals exhibit fearful and avoidance behaviors toward all humans. So the human volunteer thinks I love animals and this animal bares its teeth at me so that must mean it has been abused by humans. No this is not the case at all and 9 times out of 10 that is the situation. So the volunteer becomes emotionally involved in this so called abused “pet” and goes to great lengths to justify its behavior and who with a little loving care this wild creature will respond and becoming a loving pet. Wrong on all counts and this is why shelters across the country have such a high rate of return. Also shelters only chastise the new owner rather than interviewing them to get to the bottom of why this particular animal is being returned. So often shelters are so judgmental that the new owners find another shelter to take the animal off their hands. Until shelters acknowledge that they have a problem this rate of return will increase and continue. In study after study the only place this does not happen is with club breed rescues as they know the behavior of their breed and how it should be acting. They know what is the norm and what is not the norm because these are the professionals in their breed. Right now I cannot in all honesty tell my clients to adopt from the local shelter or the so called rescue groups. I will tell them to go to the breed club rescue groups and to a professional show breeder for a pet, especially if they have young children. By not recognizing and changing this problem shelters will continue to have this rate of return. Thus the numbers in the shelters is by and large a problem with the way in which shelters are run and the lack of training and knowledge in their volunteers. Now remember this is the average rate of return for all shelters which means your shelter may not have this many returned or they may have more. But nevertheless only the shelter directors can change this problem by quit pretending it is someone else’s fault.

Dogs are unconditional love personified. A dog is the only creature you will find that has the capacity to love you more than itself. If you’ve never come home from a hard day’s work and seen your dog jump up from under a shade tree (if an outside dog) or run to the door (if an inside dog) with its tail wagging to beat the band, you’re missing something in your life. No matter what, my dog is always overjoyed to see me come home.